Re: (TFT) TFT: Playtested Expert/Master Talents

["Neil Gilmore" <raito@raito.com>]

>    Three assumptions I used to create these talents:

>    1. The difference between an expert and a normal fighter is /defense/.
> Any fool can swing a sword and hit someone standing right in front of him.
> An expert will know how to better defend himself and parry blows to keep
> from being hit himself.  This is especially important with such deadly
> weapons being wielded, when one good sword stroke stands between victory
and
> death.  This is why -- at least in the movies -- a duel between two
> swordmasters (such as Obi Wan and Darth Maul, or D'Artanian and whoever he
> fought) takes so long.  For this reason the talents include /defensive/
> bonuses and not simply increases to DX or damage (experience and magic
cover
> those two bonuses more than adequately).

Well, in most of the samurai movies, the duel takes almost no time...

I find the movie example to be just plain wrong, because the point in the
movies is to follow the script, and build tension. Quick duels may do so,
but most directors prefer to draw them out. While I hesitate to equate
reality with roleplay, the movies are a wholly different thing.

>    2. Like many of the ITL talents, the talents above include intangible
> benefits to the user to increase their value, make them more interesting
to
> play with, and giving players more fun options in combat.  I imagine these
> bits of chrome enhance roleplaying too.

I kinda disagree with the comment on roleplay, but agree with the rest.

>    3. The talents follow the same general pattern as Ty's original talents
> of the same names.  This makes it easy to "grandfather-in" these (in my
> opinion) better talents into existing characters.  The master talents got
a
> boost from IQ 12 to 13, and all of them cost 3 IQ points each, just like
> Fencing, Two Weapons, and all of the master professional talents in ITL.
>    (To grandfather in a talent, I recommend simply /giving/ the character
> whatever he needs to meet the higher requirements.  If he has (for
example)
> Expert Sword, give him two more IQ points to cover it.  For the master
> talents increasing his IQ by one is sufficient.  This is how I'm handling
> the one expert swordsman in my campaign (who is a 16-year old warrior
> princess, played by a 12-year old girl).)

The only oddity I see here is comparing the Master Talents to the UC
talents. If I recall correctly (books not here at the moment), using the UC
talents to gain the 4 dice to hit costs 11 IQ, and a DX higher than the
Master, and a restriction on armor, and a higher IQ(?). Yes, the UC track
confers some additional benefits (like no rear hex).

Actually, I just don't much care for these. I disagree with the argument
that after DX 15, it's all downhill. I prefer the diminishing returns in
combat. Sure, you can work up a character to the point where it can take out
nearly all other single characters, but it still won't be able to take on an
army (in a straight-on fight). The point is that when a character becomes
that physically and mentally powerful,  they have to continue into other
pursuits, where temporal power becomes more important than personal power.
Then it gets interesting...

Neil Gilmore
raito@raito.com

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